11 must-visit UK filming locations from your favourite period dramas

Highclere Castle, the breathtaking Jacobethan-style mansion nestled in Hampshire, served as the iconic home of the Crawley family in Downton Abbey. Designed by Sir Charles Barry – the same architect behind the Houses of Parliament – the castle has been the ancestral seat of the Earls of Carnarvon since 1679. The 8th Earl, George Herbert, and his wife, Lady Carnavon, currently reside at the estate, and Highclere hosts seasonal tours throughout the year – including, of course, a Downton-themed experience.

Chatsworth House, a magnificent stately home set in the heart of the Peak District, famously stood in for Mr Darcy’s grand estate, Pemberley, in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Home to the Cavendish family, the Dukes of Devonshire, since the 16th century, Chatsworth welcomes visitors year-round to its opulent house and 105-acre gardens – a chance to stroll the very halls where Matthew Macfadyen once roamed.

While this grand Palladian estate near Salisbury is not set to reopen until Easter 2026, it’s definitely one to add to your list for the future. Wilton House provides the elegant backdrop for Hartfield in the 2020 adaptation of Emma, as well as interiors for both The Crown and Pride & Prejudice (2005), where it provided interior shots for Buckingham Palace and Pemberley respectively. Still a private residence, Wilton House opens to the public for part of the year, offering visitors a chance to experience the aristocratic grandeur straight out of a Jane Austen novel.

Burghley House, a striking Elizabethan mansion on the edge of Stamford, has featured in numerous period dramas, notably in The Crown, where it doubled as Windsor Castle. Built in the 16th century for William Cecil, chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, the house remains one of England’s grandest surviving stately homes. Still privately owned by his descendants, Burghley is open to the public – once you’ve checked out its opulent state rooms, be sure to visit the sprawling parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, one of Britain’s most influential and celebrated landscape architects.

A period drama favourite, this Baroque-style country house in North Yorkshire famously starred as Brideshead in both the 1981 and 2008 adaptations of Brideshead Revisited. More recently, it appeared as the Duke of Hastings’ country residence, Clyvedon Castle, in Bridgerton, and doubled as Kensington Palace in the ITV series Victoria. Home to the Howard family for over 300 years, the house is open from spring to October, and is decorated specially for Christmas from November to January.

This sweeping crescent in Bath is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, home to 30 beautiful Georgian townhouses designed by John Wood the Younger between 1767 and 1774. A favourite location of Jane Austen in novels like Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, the popular period drama location most recently doubled as Grosvenor Square in Bridgerton, with No.1 Royal Crescent specifically appearing as the exterior of the Featherington family home. The historic house is actually a museum and gallery, where you get an authentic glimpse into Georgian life and style.

Belvoir Castle, a grand historic fortress perched on a hill in Leicestershire, has been the ancestral home of the Dukes of Rutland for over 900 years. Its rich history and statuesque exteriors have made it a popular filming location, where it served as the stand-in for Windsor Castle in seasons 1-3 of The Crown before Burghley House, and stood in for Buckingham Palace in the Emily Blunt-led The Young Victoria (2009). You can take a dedicated Film Lovers tour at the residence, exploring the castle’s stunning interiors and hearing behind-the-scenes tales about its time on screen.

Drumlanrig Castle, a stunning Renaissance-style pink sandstone fortress nestled in the rolling hills of southwest Scotland, served as a key filming location for Apple TV’s The Buccaneers, where its grand facade served as the exterior of Tintagel Castle. The building also made an appearance in season 2 of Outlander, where it portrayed Bellhurst Manor, the home of the Duke of Sandringham. Known affectionately as the “Pink Palace”, the castle is the Dumfriesshire seat of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensbury, and while it’s no longer their primary residence, it remains a key part of their history.

Set amidst expansive parkland in South Gloucestershire, this magnificent Baroque mansion was central to the 2019 adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon. Not only did Dyrham Park serve as Sanditon House itself, but its surrounding areas also doubled as the streets of the fictional seaside town. A National Trust property, the house was originally built and commissioned by William Blathwayt in the 1600s and was previously home to generations of the Blathwayt family.

Osterley Park and House, a grand 18th-century Neoclassical mansion in West London, served as a key filming location for ITV’s 2018 adaptation of Vanity Fair. The production transformed the Stable Courtyard into a busy scene of street vendors, soldiers, and carriages, while interior locations like the Entrance Hall and the Great Stairs brought era-appropriate grandeur to the Regency setting. You can visit both the house and gardens of Osterley, and even better, it’s a 20-minute walk away from the nearest tube stop, Osterley, on the Piccadilly line (just pretend it’s a horse and carriage).

The wild, windswept moors of West Yorkshire provide the perfect atmospheric setting for Wuthering Heights, capturing the haunting and rugged landscape that inspired Emily Brontë’s classic novel. These moors have featured in the 2011 film adaptation, starring Kayla Scodelario and James Howson, and will appear in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming reimagined version with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi. While the moors themselves are evidently sprawling, nearby Haworth village is a great place to base yourself, where you can visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum, the former home of the Brontë family, before heading up to Penistone Hill, a site that’s also home to the “Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever”, an annual celebration that marks the shared birthdays of Emily Brontë and Kate Bush.